Dishonest Behaviours Research Articles

Effectiveness of ex ante honesty oaths in reducing dishonesty depends on content.

Dishonest behaviours such as tax evasion impose significant societal costs. Ex ante honesty oaths-commitments to honesty before action-have been proposed as interventions to counteract dishonest behaviour, but the heterogeneity in findings across operationalizations calls their effectiveness into question. We tested 21 honesty oaths (including a baseline oath)-proposed, evaluated and selected by 44 expert researchers-and a no-oath condition in a megastudy involving 21,506 UK and US participants from Prolific.com who played an incentivized tax evasion game online. Of the 21 interventions, 10 significantly improved tax compliance by 4.5 to 8.5 percentage points, with the most successful nearly halving tax evasion. Limited evidence for moderators was found. Experts and laypeople failed to predict the most effective interventions, though experts' predictions were more accurate. In conclusion, honesty oaths were effective in curbing dishonesty, but their effectiveness varied depending on content. These findings can help design impactful interventions to curb dishonesty.

A model of academic dishonesty intentions: mediating effects of machiavellianism and differential association

ABSTRACT Past studies of academic dishonesty typically have been grounded in the theory of planned behaviour. Key predictors of academic dishonesty variables under this framework generally have been attitudes towards academic dishonesty, the impact of peer pressure to engage in such acts, and individual perceptions of related acts. However, planned behaviour theory is silent about the significant impact on academic dishonesty of past academic dishonesty behaviours. The objective of the present study is to analyse, through the lens of social learning theory, the effects of past behaviours that predispose academic dishonesty: differential association, i.e., the effects of individual learning, through interaction with others, of the values, attitudes, techniques, and motives for deviant behaviour, on the prediction of academic dishonesty intentions. Additionally, the study tests the effects of Machiavellianism, or dishonest and deceptive behaviours on the relationship between past academic dishonesty acts and academic dishonesty attitudes. Results of the study reveal that differential association with cheating acceptors strengthens the relationship between academic dishonesty attitudes and intentions. Additionally, Machiavellianism at higher levels intensifies the relationships between past academic dishonesty behaviours and contemporary academic dishonesty attitudes.

Academic integrity in pre-service teacher education: a review of the literature

This research conducts a thorough review of academic integrity in teacher education, analysing the prevalence, reasons, and solutions for academic dishonesty. From an initial 693 articles in Web of Science and Scopus, 23 were selected based on strict criteria, revealing issues like plagiarism and cheating among aspiring teachers. The study points to academic pressure, skill shortages, and confusion about integrity principles as key factors driving dishonest behaviours. It stresses the importance of comprehensive strategies to combat this, including ethics education, the development of detection technologies, and cultivating a culture that prioritizes honesty. With the rise of AI, adapting integrity measures becomes crucial. Future research should focus on innovative methodologies, the effectiveness of ethics programs, and the impact of technology on maintaining academic standards, highlighting the educational community's responsibility to promote an honest environment, essential for the credibility of future educators.

Causes and mitigation of academic dishonesty among healthcare students in a Nigerian university

This study aimed to assess the knowledge, perception, influencing factors as well as suggested strategies to reduce academic dishonesty among healthcare students.A cross-sectional design that employed a self-administered online questionnaire was used to collect data among healthcare students in Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used in selecting the respondents. Knowledge was categorised into poor (< 50% of total score), fair (50–69% of total score) and good (≥ 70% of total score) while perception was classified as positive (≥ 50% of total score) and negative (< 50% of total score). Association between student demographics, and perception of academic dishonesty was analysed using Chi-Square and Fisher Exact tests. Differences in knowledge between demographics was analysed using independent sample T-test and One way Analysis of variance.Three hundred thirty-five students were enrolled in this study of which 83.3% were female and the mean age of the respondents was 19.33 years. 29.8% and 94.9% of the students showed good knowledge and positive perception of academic dishonesty respectively. There was a significant difference in knowledge based on students’ level of study (p < 0.001) and departments (p < 0.001). Fear of failure (77.0%), social stigma and peer pressure (37.0%) were commonly identified reasons for academic dishonesty among students while strict punishment (18.3%) and proper invigilation (16.2%) were the most suggested strategies (n = 178) to control academic dishonesty among students.Poor to fair knowledge and positive perception towards academic dishonesty was shown by majority of the students. Educational intervention in form of training and proper implementation of suggested strategies is warranted to improve knowledge, reduce misconceptions and ultimately reduce academic dishonest behaviours among students.

Povezanost nepoštenog akademskog ponašanja i stavova učenika prema školskim prestupima

The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between academic dishonesty and students' attitudes towards school offences. The research included 347 respondents from primary (the seventh and eighth grades) and secondary (the second and third grades) schools in the Republic of Serbia. The Measurement of Dishonest Behaviour (MDB) was used to assess several types of dishonest behaviour, while the School Offences Scale (SOS) was used to evaluate the attitudes towards school offences. According to the findings, there is a significant positive relationship between dishonest behaviour and students' attitudes towards school offences. The total score of students' attitudes has the highest relationship with the subscale of dishonest behaviour connected to Deception, while the total score of dishonest behaviour has the highest correlation with the subscale Playing Truant. Additionally, there are significant differences regarding cheating in schools between the younger and older students; it was observed that the older students had higher scores on both scales. The findings of canonical correlation analysis, which focused on the relationship between the sets of behavioural scales and attitudinal scales, are also discussed. Additionally, the relationships between the attitudes towards school offence and dishonest behaviour are explained through the Theory of Planned Behaviour, while possible instructions for predicting dishonest behaviours, reducing absenteeism from classes, and other methods of reducing cheating, are outlined in the conclusion.

Personality Traits and Levels of Self-Efficacy as Predictors of Academic Dishonesty among Higher Education Students in Ghana

The study focused on the predictive abilities of personality traits and self-effi- cacy on academic dishonesty among students. After satisfying ethical protocols, the study surveyed 453 higher education students using an analytical cross-section design. Respondents were exposed to respond to three constructs such as personality traits scale, academic self-efficacy scale, and academic dishonesty scale. The data were quantitatively analyzed using means and standard deviations, frequencies and percentages, and regression. The study revealed that conscientiousness was the dominant personality trait. In addition, the study revealed that dishonest academic behaviours were exhibited among students despite their high level of self-efficacy. Furthermore, conscientiousness, openness and self-efficacy significantly predicted academically dishonest behaviours of students. Therefore, it is recommended that students be presented with opportunities to maintain their high level of self-efficacy to help reduce incidents of academic dishonesty. The study’s findings appear original as they may serve as panacea for curbing dishonesty in teacher education programs in Ghana to churn credible teachers that might mount the teaching podium to impart knowledge onto the young that serve nations in the future.

Intention to deceive: undergraduates' perception of fraudulent excuse-making

PurposeIssues on fraudulent excuses have become a common phenomenon at higher educational institutions. Although these misbehaviours can unfavourably impact the quality of graduates, nonetheless, these issues have been largely ignored as the focus of academic debates is placed more on other academic dishonest behaviours such as cheating in exams and plagiarisms. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to examine undergraduates' perception of fraudulent excuse-making and to offer a fruitful academic discussion on this deceitful behaviour that has been a somewhat undesirable culture in tertiary educational settings.Design/methodology/approachAn online self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted to 346 undergraduates at a Malaysian public university.FindingsThe results suggest that, while the number is low, fraudulent excuses are indeed being mobilised by undergraduate students in their attempt to avoid academic responsibility. The influence of demographic profiles on fraudulent excuse-making is also evident.Originality/valueA scarcity of studies on fraudulent excuses has contributed to a lack of understanding of the pertinent reasons and causes leading to the engagement of these misbehaviours. The paper hopes to shed some light that can be beneficial to the relevant managerial authorities within the university in any policy changes in an attempt to curb this problematic behaviour from continuously affecting the inner quality of graduates.

Evaluating a learning analytics dashboard to detect dishonest behaviours: A case study in small private online courses with academic recognition

AbstractBackgroundSmall private online courses (SPOCs) are one of the strategies to introduce the massive open online courses (MOOCs) within the university environment and to have these courses validates for academic credit. However, numerous researchers have highlighted that academic dishonesty is greatly facilitated by the online context in which SPOCs are offered. And while numerous algorithms have already been proposed, no research has been performed on how to transfer this information to instructors, so that they can intervene and decrease the prevalence of this issue.ObjectivesIn this article, we present a qualitative evaluation of a tool for detecting and monitoring students suspected of academic dishonesty in SPOCs in Selene, a Colombian instance of Open edX.MethodsThe evaluation was carried out through semi‐structured interviews with four instructors who taught SPOCs with academic recognition at the University of Cauca.ResultsThe evaluation results indicated that participants found the dashboard reliable and appropriate to detect academic dishonesty behaviours in order to intervene in these cases.ImplicationsBut interventions are difficult to systematise, need an institutional policy, and there is uncertainty about whether these interventions can actually contribute to decreasing academic dishonesty.

An empirical survey on prevalence and demographic differences in academic dishonesty among undergraduates from four public universities in China

PurposeThis empirical survey is conducted to investigate the prevalence rate of academic dishonesty (AD) in examinations and assignments among undergraduates. The study compared the difference in admitted behaviours of academic dishonesty between male and female students comprising second-year, third-year and fourth-year students from the discipline of business, engineering, information technology (IT) and education.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional study was utilized in this study and collected data via the online questionnaire. A total of 1,624 respondents participated from four public universities of four provinces in China Mainland.FindingsThe findings showed that the proportion of respondents from China participating in AD is between 15.4 and 51.7%. The findings showed that more than two-thirds of the respondents stated involved dishonesty in examinations and assignments at least once during the previous academic year. In addition, male and female undergraduates in second-year, third-year and fourth-year showed statistically significant differences in dishonest behaviours. Specifically, the male/senior students were more involved in dishonest behaviours than the females/sophomores.Originality/valueUnlike previous studies, this study found that discipline in the Chinese context was not a significant demographic predictor of dishonesty. Although not significantly different, the respondents majoring in business reported a high engagement rate of dishonesty, followed by engineering and information technology undergraduates, but education undergraduates revealed the lowest engagement rate of dishonesty. The target integrity education should be imparted among male and senior students.

I Explain, You Collaborate, He Cheats: An Empirical Study with Social Network Analysis of Study Groups in a Computer Programming Subject

Students interact with each other in order to solve computer science programming assignments. Group work is encouraged because it has been proven to be beneficial to the learning process. However, sometimes, collaboration might be confused with dishonest behaviours. This article aimed to quantitatively discern between both cases. We collected code similarity measures from students over four academic years and analysed them using statistical and social network analyses. Three studies were carried out: an analysis of the knowledge flow to identify dishonest behaviour, an analysis of the structure of the social organisation of study groups and an assessment of the relationship between successful students and social behaviour. Continuous dishonest behaviour in students is not as alarming as many studies suggest, probably due to the strict control, automatic plagiarism detection and high penalties for unethical behaviour. The boundary between both is given by the amount of similar content and regularity along the course. Three types of study groups were identified. We also found that the best performing groups were not made up of the best individual students but of students with different levels of knowledge and stronger relationships. The best students were usually the central nodes of those groups.

Contract cheating: To legislate or not to legislate - is that the question?

Increasing pressure is being placed on governments and legislators in different countries to take action against assignment outsourcing in higher education. Global discussions focus on prohibiting commercial outsourcing providers, such as contract cheating services. Despite evidence to suggest that outsourcing behaviours by students are increasing, and the number/reach of companies is increasing, little research has been undertaken to explore whether legislation will deter or prevent students from engaging in these dishonest behaviours. We investigated the issue of legality with higher education students, asking about their peers and their own assignment outsourcing behaviours, whether they believed such companies were already illegal, or whether they thought they should be illegal. Using quantitative analysis, responses from 7126 international participants were considered. We found that some students outsourced their assignments whether they thought it was illegal or not. Further, the majority of respondents argued that students should be impacted by any legislation, as well as the companies that provide outsourced work. The study presents evidence which should be considered in determining whether any law may have an effect to reduce assignment outsourcing behaviours in higher education students.

Academic Integrity in Online Assessment: A Research Review

This paper provides a review of current research on academic integrity in higher education, with a focus on its application to assessment practices in online courses. Understanding the types and causes of academic dishonesty can inform the suite of methods that might be used to most effectively promote academic integrity. Thus, the paper first addresses the question of why students engage in academically dishonest behaviours. Then, a review of current methods to reduce academically dishonest behaviours is presented. Acknowledging the increasing use of online courses within the postsecondary curriculum, it is our hope that this review will aid instructors and administrators in their decision-making process regarding online evaluations and encourage future study that will form the foundation of evidence-based practices.

Evaluation of Sex and Age Influence on Plagiarism as Academic Dishonest Behaviour among Postgraduate Students of Federal Universities in South-South Zone of Nigeria

The study investigated evaluation of sex and age influence on plagiarism as academic dishonest behaviour among postgraduate students of federal universities in South-South, Nigeria. The study which is a survey research, involved a multi-stage stratified random sampling technique of 440 males and 490 females from 3 universities and 3 faculties of the same universities in South-South, Nigeria. The sample was selected through a stratified random sampling approach. The study adopted frequencies, percentages, factor analysis and multiple classification analysis statistical tools. A questionnaire developed and validated by the researcher titled: "Academic Dishonest Behaviour Questionnaire (ADBQ") with Cronbach coefficient alpha reliability of 0.83 was used for data collection. Two research questions and one hypothesis were formulated for the study. The findings indicated that the students used for this study were involved in Sex and Age influence on plagiarism aspect of academic dishonest behaviours. Generally, there is a significant influence of age on plagiarism as academic dishonest behaviour among students. Male students show a positive inclination toward plagiarism on academic dishonest behaviour than their female counterparts while on the other hand, ages 20-24years, show more culpability than other ages. It is therefore recommended among others that there should be synergy among stakeholders in the educational process to fight this menace of Plagiarism.

Pushing Corruption and Money Laundering into Reverse Momentum

In this article, the author emphasizes how corruption and money laundering have caused incalculable economic damage to society. The two problems are intricately linked and very difficult to separate. The board of directors should introduce an enhanced corporate governance mechanism(s) alongside other countermeasures in order to minimize weaknesses in the current system. In exercising their corporate function(s), aside from other committees, the board should focus more on the audit committees. It is very important that the board uses the services of competent non-executive directors (NEDs) on the audit committees. NEDs should monitor the authenticity of audit reports and minimize the occurrence of fictitious financial reports that aid fraud. Efforts at whistle-blowing should be encouraged with rewards by the board for curtailing fraud through such brave conduct. Fictitious and vexatious reports should not go unpunished. The time is ripe for boards to focus on corporate ethics and make sure that they are practised across the entity from ‘the top to the shop floor’. The corporate culture should be seen to nurture the best behaviour in people. This approach has very strong potential to minimize fraudulent and dishonest behaviours that translate into corruption and, by implication, money laundering.&#x0D; Keywords: corruption; money laundering; board of directors; whistle-blowers; non-executive directors; corporate ethics

Pre-service teachers’ professional commitment, sense of efficacy, and perceptions of unethical teacher behaviours

This exploratory study examined whether pre-service teachers’ professional commitment and sense of efficacy significantly predict their perceptions of unethical teacher behaviours. Specifically, the present study aimed to uncover the factors influencing pre-service teachers’ ethical stances that potentially shape their actions regarding the challenging aspects of the teaching profession during the early phases of their career. Correlation and structural equation modelling analyses were conducted to analyse the data reliably. The results showed that pre-service teachers’ planned efforts significantly predicted the sense of efficacy in addition to their perceptions of ‘offensive and discriminative teacher behaviours’ and ‘irresponsible and dishonest teacher behaviours’. Additionally, pre-service teachers’ sense of efficacy significantly mediated the relationship between career development aspirations and perceptions of ‘irresponsible and dishonest teacher behaviours’. The results suggest that considering pre-service teachers’ professional commitment with a sense of efficacy can provide a comprehensive framework for understanding pre-service teachers’ ethical stances on unethical teacher behaviours.

Factor analysis for academic dishonesty tendency scale: Validation for Indian context

Honesty and integrity are highly valued qualities in a nurse. However, academic dishonesty has been a concern in nursing education consistently. A nursing student who exhibits dishonest behavior in classroom has a tendency to be also dishonest in clinical practice which can lead to adverse patient outcomes. There is paucity in studies on academic dishonesty among nursing students in India. There is also very limited evidence on which scale is valid or suitable to explore academic dishonest behaviours in an Indian setting specifically among nursing students. This paper addresses this gap by validating the suitability of the 'Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale developed by Eminoglu and Nartgun to determine the tendencies of University students towards academically dishonest behaviors ' for a population of nursing students in India. 249 students enrolled in III and IV year BSc Nursing and I and II year MSc Nursing programmes in a private college participated in the study and filled the Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale. The responses of the participants were subjected to factor analysis with Principal Components Analysis (PCA) with Varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization. Exploratory factor analysis was done to assess the applicability of the scale in the Indian setup. The three factors identified- Tendency towards Cheating, Tendency towards Carelessness and Tendency towards Plagiarism were found to be important aspects of academic dishonesty and are very relevant to nursing students. The findings confirm that the Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale is a useful tool to identify tendencies towards academic dishonesty among nursing students in Indian settings.

What motivates academic dishonesty in students? A reinforcement sensitivity theory explanation.

Academic dishonesty (AD) is an increasing challenge for universities worldwide. The rise of the Internet has further increased opportunities for students to cheat. In this study, we investigate the role of personality traits defined within Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) as potential determinants of AD. RST defines behaviour as resulting from approach (Reward Interest/reactivity, goal-drive, and Impulsivity) and avoidance (behavioural inhibition and Fight-Flight-Freeze) motivations. We further consider the role of deep, surface, or achieving study motivations in mediating/moderating the relationship between personality and AD. A sample of UK undergraduates (N=240). All participants completed the RST Personality Questionnaire, a short-form version of the study process questionnaire and a measure of engagement in AD, its perceived prevalence, and seriousness. Results showed that RST traits account for additional variance in AD. Mediation analysis suggested that GDP predicted dishonesty indirectly via a surface studyapproach while the indirect effect via deep study processes suggested dishonesty was not likely. Likelihood of engagement in AD was positively associated with personality traits reflecting Impulsivity and Fight-Flight-Freeze behaviours. Surface study motivation moderated the Impulsivity effect and achieving motivation the FFFS effect such that cheating was even more likely when high levels of these processes were used. The findings suggest that motivational personality traits defined within RST can explain variance in the likelihood of engaging in dishonest academic behaviours.

Exploring similarities and differences among the self-reported academic integrity of Australian occupational therapy domestic and international students

BackgroundResearch into the prevalence of dishonest academic behaviours suggests that such behaviours may be extensive among international students in higher education. ObjectiveTo compare the academic integrity of domestic and international occupational therapy students and identify possible contributors to students' engagement in dishonest academic behaviours. DesignA quantitative cross-sectional study using a survey containing several standardised scales was used to collect the data. SettingsFive Australian universities. Participants701 occupational therapy students. MethodsStudents completed a self-report questionnaire comprising demographic questions and six standardised scales: Academic Dishonesty Scale; Academic Dishonesty in the Classroom Setting Scale (ADCS); Academic Dishonesty in the Clinical/Practice Education Setting Scale; Moral Development Scale for Professionals; Academic Dishonesty Tendency Scale; and Perceived Academic Sources of Stress. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to compare the scores of domestic and international students on academic dishonesty factors, moral development, and perceived sources of academic stress. ResultsSignificant differences between domestic and international students were observed on age; grade point average; hours per week spent in paid work; moral practice; tendency towards cheating; tendency towards cheating in research assignments; pressures to perform; and self-perception. No significant differences were found on students' self-reported scores on academic dishonesty in academic classroom education contexts, fieldwork practice education settings or perceived stresses of workload and examinations and time restraints. ConclusionsThe reported incidences of dishonest academic behaviours in the classroom and fieldwork settings were low for all occupational therapy students, irrespective of origin and were comparable to findings from cohorts of other health professional students. However, concomitant with existing research, international students were found to have a greater tendency to engage in dishonest behaviours particularly on research assignments. This may be reflective the socio-cultural issues and external pressures that international students experience. Further study in this area is recommended.

Exploring the paradox: A cross-sectional study of academic dishonesty among Australian nursing students

BackgroundUniversities' responsibility to ensure academic integrity is frustrated by software and communication tools that facilitate content reuse coupled with a growing international essay writing economy. A wide range of behaviours constitute academic dishonesty and while a complex phenomenon to examine, existing evidence suggests that there is sufficient proliferation (both in volume and variety) of these behaviours among Australian university students to warrant concern. This proliferation presents faculty and staff with new challenges in ensuring academic integrity. ObjectivesThis paper reports findings of a nationwide cross-sectional survey of 361 students enrolled in an Australian nursing degree program and describes the extent of academic dishonesty among those surveyed. DesignAn online survey adapted from previous work was used to collect data on academic dishonesty, professional dishonesty and social desirability bias. Analysis of this data enabled identification of the prevalence of dishonesty, relationships between individual characteristics and dishonest behaviours, associations between academic and professional dishonesty, and the impact of deterrents to such behaviour. ResultsPlagiarism was the most frequently reported form of academic misconduct. Most participants indicated that threat of severe punishment and signing of verification statements would deter undesirable academic behaviour. Despite this, a relatively high proportion of students reported engaging in at least one form of academic misconduct, the likelihood of which was higher among younger age groups. Of concern was that a correlation was found between academic and professional misconduct, the most common being the recording of inaccurate or fabricated vital signs and breaching client privacy. ConclusionIn health professional education, there is a tendency to assume that the nobility of these disciplines would result in a lower incidence of cheating behaviours. The findings of this study support existing literature that refutes this assumption. This study found troubling rates of academic and professional misconduct among the surveyed population.

Academic dishonesty in higher education: students' perceptions and involvement in an African institution.

BackgroundIntegrity in academic work is a critical benchmark of every profession. For this reason, special attention should be devoted to addressing academic dishonesty (AD) in higher education to prevent the potential transfer of these practices to the workplace. In order to effectively address AD in Africa, further information about correlates of, and barriers to, the effectiveness of existing AD-controlling measures is needed. In Ghana, little is known about AD from the perspective of students. Here, we present a first report of Ghanaian undergraduate students’ self-reported understanding of, and support for, institutional AD regulations, their involvement in specific dishonest behaviours, as well as their motivation factors.ResultsApproximately 92 % of respondents said they were aware of institutional regulations on AD. However, only 31 % rated their understanding as high. Respondents believed that their lecturers had better understanding of, and support for, these regulations than the students (p < 0.001 and p < 0.0001 respectively). Approximately 40 % of respondents had witnessed their colleagues engage in AD before, but the majority (94 %) had never reported these acts. The pursuit of good grades, high academic load and pressure to please family and guardians were the leading causes of AD. Cheating during examinations and inappropriately sharing answers in the preparation of assignments were some of the highly-occurring forms of AD. Respondents believed that copying colleagues’ work without their permission was a serious offense but doing so with their permission was not.ConclusionOur findings suggest that the sampled students consent to cheating—they believed that they committed no misconduct once the parties involved had agreed on the act. Considering these misconceptions, institutions should do more to help their students better understand the different forms of AD and how to avoid them.